Wintery Weekend

Last year, I was able to find some good things about winter. Then again, it was pretty mild. This year, there are no redeeming qualities to this season. I’m hating it more than I’ve hated it since moving out of Michigan, and this weekend only solidified that. Don’t get me wrong, I know other parts of the country are having it ten times worse. But here in my little corner of the world, winter can leave and never come back.

Friday night, we made it to the gym then went to Imperial Garden for dinner since I’d been craving some sweet and sour chicken. We went to Terry and Erica’s for our scheduled game night, but we didn’t game because we were all brain fried. So we visited and introduced them to some pretty awesomely bad fan fiction on the web.

The snow hit on Saturday, and we waited too long to get out and take a walk. Even though the morning was clear, we putzed around, and by the time we finally did go outside, the sleet sent us right back in. I finished some knitting projects and watched several hours of “Cheers.” Still, by the end of the day I was super restless. Besides the fact that we didn’t get out to do anything, the fact that I felt trapped by the weather just made me want to go out and do something that much more. I did do a little cleaning, some reading, and some putzing on the web, but nothing really active.

The sun came out this afternoon, and the plow trucks did a fair job of clearing the roads, so we headed into town for gym and gaming. Though I was pretty happy to get back into the gym, I didn’t hydrate well beforehand, so my feet hurt and I felt lethargic. Still, I exercised for about a half hour and finished Season 1 of Zombies, Run. I found out tonight that the initial purchase doesn’t give you all the new seasons, so tonight I bought the Season 2 pass so I can continue. At some point, I’ll have to buy season 3, but I think that’s a little further down the timeline (it’s not even released yet).

We made it to our Pathfinder game, doing a holiday one shot, and then Jon and I did a little bit of shopping to get dinner for tonight and lunches for the week. Things are going to take a little planning since we’re staying at Forsh’s the next two nights and we’ll want to plan what we’re making on Christmas Day. I think the day after Christmas will be chili since we both have that day off. I hope the weather is nice. I’d like to use the time off to get out and do some walking and geocaching.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been watching a lot of “Cheers” since it’s on Netflix. I put it on on a whim last week and realized how much I enjoyed it, both for the amusement and the nostalgia. It’s also really interesting to see how the show handled certain issues back then and how different it is from today. Some of the jokes throughout the show wouldn’t be acceptable today, especially those involving racism or gays. There have also been at least two scenes (I’m only in season 2) in which someone attempts sexual assault on Diane and the laugh track continues. She then proceeds to say how it was her fault. Yes, times have definitely changed. It’s also kind of strange that as an adult watching the show, I realize what a jerk Sam is and how dysfunctional his relationship with Diane is. It doesn’t help that I can’t stand Diane. I think she’s one of the worst TV characters ever. Luckily, the rest of the cast makes up for her.

Tomorrow’s Monday, and our work deadlines have been pushed up due to the holiday, so I need to get some rest so I can kick butt tomorrow. Off to shower and bed.

Stay safe out there.

A.

Casting Off and Massive Amounts of TV

In “I’m awesome and reached another monthly goal” news, I finished the baby blanket.  Towards the end there, I was carrying it everywhere, knitting up rows during social events, and trying to reconcile the size with my inner follower –knitter who said that it HAD to follow the dimensions on the pattern…no arguments!

But change makes the world go ‘round and I stopped before the blanket got monstrous. After binding off, I saw two things:  the blanket was definitely big enough and I’d purled when I should have knitted about halfway through the blanket.  That gives it personality, right?

On top of that, I could then see every single bad part about my cabling. But if I just glance at it, I think it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, I can’t share a picture yet.  My sister-in-law may or may not read this blog, and on the off chance she does, I want her to see the blanket for the first time when she gets it in the mail.

To get me through the knitting process, I’ve been watching a lot of TV, not counting movies. 

1.  American Horror Story – The creepy opening credits had me riveted every single time.  The show was good too. It amazes me the things FX can get away with. I especially liked the cameo appearances. If you want to like your TV characters, though, I don’t know if you’ll like this show. There are no heroic types.

2. The League – Another FX show, one that I find really funny, though I have to wonder how one group of people can be so horrible. Not sure if I liked S3 as much as I liked the first 2, but I liked the cameos (Jeff Goldblum and Seth Rogen, among them).

3. Face Off – I had to clarify to my mom that I wasn’t referring to the Cage/Travolta movie but to the SyFy reality show where makeup and effects artists compete for some money and even more makeup. The first season was awesome. Most of those people had talent and the stuff they turned out was great. Season Two…not so much. A couple of them have talent, but overall,  I haven’t been impressed. But the show is still entertaining and still going, so it has a few more episodes to redeem itself.

4. Scrubs – I’m flying solo for Season 8 for two reasons.  J-Felb burned out, getting more annoyed with the characters than I am. That’s the first reason. The second reason is that I’m only a few episodes in and have had my own personal cry-fests. I don’t know if the rest of the season is like that, but talk about turning on the waterworks. I’ve heard bad things about the final season, but it’s not that bad, in my opinion. 

There’s also been intermittent watchings of Star Trek and The Twilight Zone (Original Episodes), both of which I really enjoy, but they only hold my attention for so long. Tonight, we’re starting “Supernatural,” another show I’ve heard good things about but just never had much interest in. And in keeping with the way of things, I cast on for a pair of socks for my mom, so I won’t be without a project over the next run of television shows.

Mom doesn’t read my blog, so I might get away with some pictures if I can remember to take them.

NOTE: Yes, all my links are from IMDB. I realize this is kind of lazy, and there are those who may take issue with it. Too bad. I like to do things quick and easy, hence the reason I’m not a professional blogger. Party on!

 

Love, Hate, and a SoapBox

Today, I started watching the second season of “The Biggest Loser.”

Over the past weekend, I watched the first season because the whole series came on Netflix Instant View (which I guess I don’t have to call “Instant View” anymore since the company is splitting up, so just Netflix from here on out).  I have such mixed feelings about this show, a sort of television love/hate relationship. A couple years ago I tried watching several back seasons as well as the current season, but I gave up.

I don’t remember what season it was, but it was really annoying me. There was so much drama, more than I’d seen in previous seasons and that’s saying a lot because for a show about weight loss, which is dramatic anyway. The editing and directing staff manages to find every other ounce of drama and brings it hardcore.

There was also constant product placement…constant! I was waiting for them to start pimping toilet paper brands to show which was the softest on your butt when you’re trying to lose weight. After awhile, it seemed apparent that the show was more interested in keeping up with its cash cow than it was with actually helping people lose weight. And as far as that part goes, I know they made an effort later, but the methods weren’t realistic for normal people and yet they always failed to mention that your body won’t normally lose 10 lbs in the third week of weight loss.

For all my “hate,” though, there are some things I like about the show. Besides the fact that it’s TV crack and highly addicting, I like seeing the progress of people who lose weight, I like watching them workout because it motivates me to keep going to the gym, and…I’ll admit it…while I hate the drama, I also love the drama.  And I cry alot, especially during those times when people get to talk to their families. For whatever reason, whenever that happens on a reality show, I go Niagara Falls from the tear ducts.

Another opinion I’ve found to be fairly unpopular? I love Jillian Michaels and totally dislike Bob Harper.  My perception of Bob is that he finds a way to make everything about him. Jillian is psycho, but she gets results and I think she does things more for the contestants’ benefit than because she wants to make new friends.

I’m going to power through and see how long I can get before I give up or throw a weight on the ground in protest.

A.